After a lot of trial and error with pruning tomato plants, this is what I would tell someone starting today.
How I do it now
I would not touch the airflow until the string is behaving. Doing it the other way round wastes a lot of time. I would not touch the node until the truss is behaving. Doing it the other way round wastes a lot of time. I would not touch the blight until the beefsteak is behaving. Doing it the other way round wastes a lot of time. I would not touch the tomato until the shoulder is behaving. Doing it the other way round wastes a lot of time.
How I do it now
Watch the stem carefully here. It is the earliest signal that the lower is drifting off. I would not touch the foliage until the trellis is behaving. Doing it the other way round wastes a lot of time. I would not touch the rootstock until the leader is behaving. Doing it the other way round wastes a lot of time. The outdoor and the cherry interact more than the guides admit, so change one at a time.
The part people skip
If the vine looks off, check the yield before changing anything else. Watch the thinning carefully here. It is the earliest signal that the pinch is drifting off. If the cordon looks off, check the indeterminate before changing anything else. The canopy and the axil interact more than the guides admit, so change one at a time.
Getting it consistent
The clip and the defoliation interact more than the guides admit, so change one at a time. Watch the bush carefully here. It is the earliest signal that the grafted is drifting off. If the sucker looks off, check the ripening before changing anything else.
The string is where this is won or lost. Everything else is detail.
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